anyone used 3 wise bears

[jim f]

Hi all

I am looking to move away from my current accountant (seems everyone is jumping ship from them looking at the posts)
Did a search for 3 wise bears on the forum and didn't see much.

www. 3wisebears.co.uk

Has anyone used them? Thoughts.

I did a google search but couldn't find any real reviews either.

Thanks
Jim

[MrButton]

Someone I worked with recommended them and they mentioned good personal service. That was the only time I heard anything about them.

[northernladuk]

Why do you want to move to them if you've not heard anything about them?

Just pick one if the ones from our recommended thread.

[Lance]

anyone used 3 wise bears

Has your current accountant done anything wrong? Why do you want to leave?

[Fred Bloggs]

OP - If you really want a new accountant, firstly, choose a FreeAgent one. Secondly, choose one of the active firms here that have a reputation to uphold. Word soon gets around when they fall from grace, SJD and Nixon Williams being just two previously well regarded firms who are now barge pole candidates, there are plenty of others too.

[jim f]

Why do you want to move to them if you've not heard anything about them?

Just pick one if the ones from our recommended thread.

Has your current accountant done anything wrong? Why do you want to leave?

Sounds like rank stupidity to move to a firm you know nothing about, and that apparently has no reputation. Especially when the market appears to be flush with well regarded competitors.

OP - If you really want a new accountant, firstly, choose a FreeAgent one. Secondly, choose one of the active firms here that have a reputation to uphold. Word soon gets around when they fall from grace, SJD and Nixon Williams being just two previously well regarded firms who are now barge pole candidates, there are plenty of others too.

All valid questions. Perhaps going into more detail and explaining my rationale is warranted. May give other accountants here the opportunity to mention if they can help or a user to recommend someone who could.

Currently with a large firm who I wont name but their service has not been up to scratch recently so looking to move.

I am a vanilla contractor and have built up some money in the company. I potentially want to start a new contractor company next year and convert the current one to a buy to let company. I plan on (I am still not 100% sold on the idea) using the old company to purchase one property and rent it out while contracting from the new company. Given I am not 100% I just want to have the option of doing this (along with some advice).

I was recommended Maslins by a couple of friends but my understanding is Maslins will only deal with vanilla contractors and would be unlikely to accept me. When I googled it 3 wise bears were the only ones I could find that offered services to contractors and corporate buy to let companies. Given my potential roadmap it seemed like a good idea to find someone that had experience of both and would be potentially better suited to helping the conversion if i went ahead with it. But not finding any reviews of the firm made me a little nervous (and hence me reaching out here to see if anyone had heard much about them).

So if you are an accountant here and would be happy to do a bit of potential extra work (not sure how much extra work would be involved to be frank but happy to discuss if there is anything above and beyond normal) or know of any who would be please let me know.

BTW, they are freeagent accountants. I saw them as recommended partners on freeagents website.

ps while I am looking for accountant recommendations am happy for anyone to bash me for this being a stupid idea, would like to know if I am considering doing anything ridiculous that I may have overlooked...I understand I will loose the ability to do ER etc and I would be paying CT + CGT/Dividend tax in the end which could potentially end up costing more.

[Lance]

I was recommended Maslins by a couple of friends but my understanding is Maslins will only deal with vanilla contractors and would be unlikely to accept me.

Have you asked Maslins?

[Chart Accountancy]

All valid questions. Perhaps going into more detail and explaining my rationale is warranted. May give other accountants here the opportunity to mention if they can help or a user to recommend someone who could.

Currently with a large firm who I wont name but their service has not been up to scratch recently so looking to move.

I am a vanilla contractor and have built up some money in the company. I potentially want to start a new contractor company next year and convert the current one to a buy to let company. I plan on (I am still not 100% sold on the idea) using the old company to purchase one property and rent it out while contracting from the new company. Given I am not 100% I just want to have the option of doing this (along with some advice).

I was recommended Maslins by a couple of friends but my understanding is Maslins will only deal with vanilla contractors and would be unlikely to accept me. When I googled it 3 wise bears were the only ones I could find that offered services to contractors and corporate buy to let companies. Given my potential roadmap it seemed like a good idea to find someone that had experience of both and would be potentially better suited to helping the conversion if i went ahead with it. But not finding any reviews of the firm made me a little nervous (and hence me reaching out here to see if anyone had heard much about them).

So if you are an accountant here and would be happy to do a bit of potential extra work (not sure how much extra work would be involved to be frank but happy to discuss if there is anything above and beyond normal) or know of any who would be please let me know.

BTW, they are freeagent accountants. I saw them as recommended partners on freeagents website.

ps while I am looking for accountant recommendations am happy for anyone to bash me for this being a stupid idea, would like to know if I am considering doing anything ridiculous that I may have overlooked...I understand I will loose the ability to do ER etc and I would be paying CT + CGT/Dividend tax in the end which could potentially end up costing more.

The accountancy for a property investment company is very straightforward, and requires less work than a trading company so the accounting fee would be less for the accounting work (we charge at least a lower fee for investment company accounting). However, what you need to consider is the most appropriate set up and the tax consequences, and this is the area where you need to ensure your accountant/ tax advisor is able to support.

[Maslins]

I was recommended Maslins by a couple of friends but my understanding is Maslins will only deal with vanilla contractors and would be unlikely to accept me. When I googled it 3 wise bears were the only ones I could find that offered services to contractors and corporate buy to let companies. Given my potential roadmap it seemed like a good idea to find someone that had experience of both and would be potentially better suited to helping the conversion if i went ahead with it. But not finding any reviews of the firm made me a little nervous (and hence me reaching out here to see if anyone had heard much about them).

Hello, delighted your friends recommend us

I'm sure all firms have things they're confident dealing with, and things they're less so. A few of our clients personally own a BTL property or two, and we're fine with that. However, where a client wants to pursue property more actively (ie either a big BTL portfolio, or perhaps property development) we're less confident.

Personally, I don't think buying properties via a Ltd Co is a good move. There are various pros and cons which have been discussed occasionally elsewhere on this forum...and I'm certainly not saying I'm right others are wrong, but for me I'd recommend owning personally.

Do consider this carefully before proceeding, and ensure any accountant you're talking to about it is knowledgeable in tax when it comes to property. I appreciate if you personally aren't, it can be hard to know whether the "expert" you're talking to is or not...but suffice to say I know a lot of accountants who know far less than us about property tax will happily take on a property client...when in my view they really shouldn't.

In the past I've recommended a few (now ex) clients to Tidy Money when it became apparent they wanted property to be more than just a small sideline. They seemed happy with the service. However the most recent person I passed their way apparently tried contacting them a few times with no response...possibly they're snowed under, possibly some kind of spam filter/similar issue, I don't know.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[craigy1874]

It depends though.

Property ownership can work well for contractors who have a significant warchest built up and want to use that money, rather than leaving it sitting and earning pennies in bank interest.

In this situation, a new company and an inter-company loan works well.

There are obvious down-sides, but certainly a few positives in doing this...